By: Mathusan Mahalingam
The final stage of genocide is the destruction of memory, the denial of wrongdoing, and the burial of evidence. The Murder of Memory is the last and final victim in genocide. However, erasing the present collective memory of an ethnic group who endured genocide is a difficult task.
So what is targeted instead? Museums and Libraries. For 55 centuries, books have been targets of cultural violence because of their symbolic and intellectual significance. The earliest burning of books can be traced back between 4100 and 3300 BCE. Museums and libraries are the physical embodiment of culture and history. As these institutions are closely linked to a nation’s and groups’ power structure, destroying these intuitions would assist in destroying memory and history.
Many regimes in history have understood that books hold a powerful relationship to society, culture and history, and have made libraries targets of violence. Past rulers have burnt books in order to further their ideological beliefs.
Egypt. In Egypt, governor and poet Akhenaton had all the religious books about God Aton written before his time burned so that he could create and impose his own ideas about God Aton, and thus have his religious views become part of the culture. When the old books were destroyed, history was altered to serve the purpose of the current ruling class.
China. In China, Li Si, a counsellor to Emperor Shi Huang, counselled the Emperor to destroy all the books that glorified the past. He believed that if books were destroyed, it would limit people studying and getting ideas of revolt against the rulers of the time. When books were hid and burned, people did not have access to studying history or knowledge.
Armenia. Armenia is one of the countries which were subject to genocide. In 1992, 927 libraries were destroyed and 4,600,000 books were lost. What was lost includes rare historical documents and philosophical writings. Much of what was lost were key pieces that recorded the development of Armenian culture and recorded it as history. With this knowledge lost, culture and history that is passed down must be more reliant of individual memory.
Bosnia. The National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo was attacked by artillery shelling in 1992 during the Bosnian Genocide. For three days, the library burned. 1.5 million Volumes and 478 ancient manuscripts were destroyed along with the building. The Sarajevans tried very desperately to save some of the books by passing them to friends and family to hide. They were able to save a few books; however, much of their history was lost in those three days to flames by those who sought to annihilate the Bosnians.
Bagdad. The Bagdad National Library was burned in 2003 along with 1 million books, and10 million registries from the republican and Ottoman periods. While this was done by mobs who were propelled by propaganda that equated libraries with symbols of Saddam’s Regime, what really was lost was national history, knowledge and ancient information.
What I have mentioned here is only the tip of the iceberg. The truth is, libraries have been burned since the times libraries were created. When looking at past violence, we can see that libraries are targeted when the goal is to rid or change culture and history.
Jaffna, May 31, 1981. The Jaffna Library, founded in 1841 was burned. At the time, the Jaffna Library housed 100,000 books and manuscripts that were relevant to the Tamil culture. Irreplaceable manuscripts on palm leafs were also destroyed. The copy of Yalpanam Vaipuavama, a historical chronological account of Jaffna was also burned. The Jaffna Library served much historical and symbolic significance for Tamils and their culture.
The Burning of the Jaffna Library was not an accident, but rather part of a well-planned program to destroy the history and culture of the Tamil people. A history that is not recorded will prove to be much more difficult to preserve and pass down to succeeding generations. When there are gaps in history, it allows for speculation and the modification of the truth, as Akherton did in Egypt. That is why libraries, the holders of culture and history are attacked when the goal is to rid a particular culture or history. When history is “missing” it can be changed, forgotten, and culture can be misinformed.
Libraries and museums are the epitome and embodiment of culture. The destruction of it cannot be taken lightly, because when libraries and museums become targets of violence, the entire culture and history is at risk. Measures must be taken to protect, preserve and safeguard these cultural institutions and their relevant writings. A history and culture that is lost, will be forgotten over time if it is not preserved. We must begin to see value in our cultural institutions, and realize that our lives our short-lived, but our culture and historical accounts live for decades after us.
Murder of Memory is the final stage of genocide. A cultural history is slowly eliminated when the cultural institutions are destroyed. Much of this history and culture we know today was passed on to us because our culture and history was recorded and preserved for succeeding generations to read. We must not, and cannot simply watch our cultural institutions and history burn; we must preserve and protect it.
As long as we keep the memory of our culture and history alive and work towards ensuring it is preserved in our minds and books, our memories cannot be murdered.
References:
Baez (2008). The Universal Destruction of Books: From Ancient Sumer to Modern Iraq. New York: Atlas and Co.
Coloroso (2007). Extraordinary Evil. Canada: Nation Books.
Knuth (2008). Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century. Westport: Praeger.
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